Posts by tetrapod.sapien

10

Nancy Grace...and other things

by troucul in

jw
friends

i know there should be two different topics, but as i was posting, i was surfing on yahoo and saw that 27 more gi's died today...it makes one think.. at any rate, i hate nancy grace.

i've never heard her comments on people that were declared not guilty.

for some reason, she moves on to other cases when other defendants were cleared.

tetrapod.sapien

At any rate, I hate Nancy Grace

ya. she really irritates me too. well, cnn irritates me. but she rubs me the wrong way bad.

and anderson cooper is a dork.

tetra (of the "ted turner is not getting laid, no one is" class)

26

Creator Book - Periodic Table - Part 1

by Amazing in

jw
friends

i believe in god ... but not because of any watchtower teaching.

it is actually fun to look back and see how they applied very poor logic and nonsense to try and prove their point.

tetrapod.sapien

hi jim,

great write up if i may say so! you've got good style.

the creator book was actually the book that led me to begin questioning things about the borg. what a pile of crap that book is.

you may find this link interesting too:

http://talkorigins.org/faqs/jw-book.html

hi shadow,

even the number sequence for pi is not!
it just seems so because we cant figure out the formula yet

are you sure about this?

mathematicians are still calculating the decimal places. just because we have not found a pattern in the decimal places does not mean that one day we will. in addition, this does not mean that they do not understand pi. how do you think they generate pi in the first place? pi might actually be truly random in the end. not that it matters of course. a patternless pi doesn't have philosophical implications that i am aware of. it's just a very unique number.

peace out bro,

tetra

12

Guess the Sexist

by Deputy Dog in

jw
friends

who wrote: it is generally admitted that with woman the powers of intuition, of rapid perception, and perhaps of imitation, are more strongly marked than in man; but some, at least, of these faculties are characteristic of the lower races, and therefore of a past and lower state of civilisation.

the chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn by man's attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than can woman- whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely the use of the senses and hands.

if two lists were made of the most eminent men and women in poetry, painting, sculpture, music (inclusive both of composition and performance), history, science, and philosophy, with half-a-dozen names under each subject, the two lists would not bear comparison.

tetrapod.sapien

charles darwin actually contributed much to science. if he hadn't, someone else would have. evolution was bound to be eludicated eventually.

the quote itself shows how men viewed women back then. sad, but true. white european men also called indians and africans "barbarians" back then.

the quote is from the volume in which he describes his second, and lesser known theory: sexual selection. natural selection was his other theory.

sexual selection says (among other things) that human mates choose traits in their sexual partners, and that those traits in term get passed on in a pregnancy. strong chin, nice ass, milky skin, blue eyes, nice teeth, intelliegence. he points out that traditionally women chose many traits in men, including intelliegence. this is because men had been the bread winners, and the security detail in times past. intelliegence was an asset. unfortunately, men did not always choose women for their intelliegence. and so it would stand to reason that intelliegence is better represented in men than in women.

that was his hypothesis. i am not sure if i agree with him though. it would seem that intelliegence is passed onto both male and female children (nature), and that females were under represented in education (nurture). intelligence levels, and education levels are two different things.

the point is that science will take the things about theories that work in reality, and discard the things that don't work well.

natural selection has been shown to work well. sexual selection has some good points, but also some lame ones, imo.

charles darwin was not the creator of evolution. evolution exists outside of darwin. he simply discovered it. thousands of biologists have refined and expanded it since. no one ever said darwin was a God. he would have been the first to remind us of this actually.

am i excusing sexist behaviour? not in the least, i disagree with such an "observation" by darwin. i am explaining the conext of the quote. something that DD left out.

if anyone is angered by this quote, and wants to lynch darwin for it, go right ahead. you won't upset any of the "evolutionists". it's not about *who* believes what. it's about the thing itself. well, in science anyways.

tetra

22

2 day assembly

by thebiggestlie in

uggggh.... this is assembly weekend for me.... it's a funny feeling being in a hall with 800 brainwashed people feeling like your the only one who doesn't buy into the "truth"...,

tetrapod.sapien

i hear you! when i was first getting free mentally, but still going to meetings and assemblies, i had feelings just like that. it's partly creepy. partley fascinating, the psychology of it all.

i remember pretending to sing, but just listening to everyone else sing. and during the prayers i would look around at everyone. that was way weird. ha ha! it seems like it's all so far away now.

best luck on your journey,

tetra

27

If you could turn back time, how far would you crank the hands of time?

by avidbiblereader in

how far in your life would you turn back time and why?

what would you hope to change?.

abr.

tetrapod.sapien

ya, what outlaw said.

in addition, i am not sure if "time travel" into the past would ever even be possible without extreme paradox occuring.

but i wouldn't change anything.

tetra

36

Where exactly is Satan?

by IronClaw in

since leaving the jw's most of us have also left most of their doctrine.

so that being the case, most of us have left the wt understanding of 1914. now you know that the wt claims that satan was hurled out of heaven in that year down to the vicinity of the earth.

so the question is: if 1914 is just another year to us, then what are your thoughts as to the whereabouts of satan and his followers?.

tetrapod.sapien

hi ironclaw,

If 1914 is just another year to us, then what are your thoughts as to the whereabouts of Satan and his followers?

as dan has brought out, satan has always existed as a metaphorical archytype. satan exists in our heads. my opinion is that he is our ego.

"his" followers are everywhere. people dominated by their egos.

the idea that we had as witnesses of satan is quite different from the view i have of him now however. so that should be taken into consideration too.

tetra

62

If Jesus could talk to Satan...

by AuldSoul in

consider the scene: jesus has just been baptized and immediately leaves for an extended stay in the wilderness all on his lonesome.

now ... already this is something the governing body would discourage any jw from doing, but i digress.. along comes satan.

jesus knows it is satan, because of how satany he is.

tetrapod.sapien

You can add one more witnees who refuse to have a conversation with you

having conversations with JWs is certainly not high on my list of things to do.

tetra

62

If Jesus could talk to Satan...

by AuldSoul in

consider the scene: jesus has just been baptized and immediately leaves for an extended stay in the wilderness all on his lonesome.

now ... already this is something the governing body would discourage any jw from doing, but i digress.. along comes satan.

jesus knows it is satan, because of how satany he is.

tetrapod.sapien

Maybe since your departure from the truth your memory of scripture departed as well. That usually happens to those who leave, they also stop studying the bible.

agapa,

the premise that JWs are well versed in scirpture is flawed. JWs are well versed in WTS docrtine, not in scriptuire. they are as well versed in exegesis as any fundamentalist xian group is. your inability to see allegory and metaphor in these matters is mirrored in your comments.

the arrogance of implying that jehovahs witnoids study the bible, while ex witnoids don't, is self evident to observers on the matter. i bring it up only to show you that as ex wits we don't take psychological abuse from wits (or apologists) anymore.

Looks to me Jesus told him to get lost.

looks to me like you take the bible WAY too literally.

tetra

19

Has the Internet changed your life?

by Fisherman in

information at my finger tips.

no one can have the upper hand on me beccause of information.

medicine.

tetrapod.sapien

i might still be in the borg if it wasn't for the internet. google was the the thing that saved my life i'd argue. wikipedia. that has to be the number one place i hang out. i can just surf ideas all day long if i wanted to. boards like this, skeptic and iidb.org type boards have blown my left hemisphere wide open. and i'm actually right hemisphere dominated, so it's been good for sure. it's the one thing i miss when i am out in the middle of no where.

tetra

104

Further incite on Dawkin's The God Delusion

by Abandoned in

jw
friends

i started a thread after i finished the first chapter of this book entitled something like, i'm an atheist.

i finished chapter three and i have to backtrack a bit, but i also feel the need to explain why since i was so vocal.. first, let me say that i think everyon should read the first two chapters of the god delusion by richard dawkins.

he brings up some very important points about religion and about science's place in our world.

tetrapod.sapien

skyking,

The reason everyyone should be opened minded is because a fool believes in the "power of his image, and sound of his tongue,"

well, to foolishness then! the tongue is a powerful tool for change and catalyst in the world. did you know that some psychologists consider language itself to be the definition of human consciousness? the tongue is the tool that expressing ones mind to the world. you can expect highly intelligent people to be out spoken at this time in human history. all discussions are talking place on this medium we have invented, the world wide web. and this is going to be the place where humanity finds a common voice. and so the discussions go on this medium. and a persons self image goes a long way, in how they stand up and take the world. no one likes a self-defeatist.

in my critiques of your attitude on this thread, i have only desired to help you broaden your views, not change them. if you believe you are beyond my assistance, then sorry to have wasted your time.

tetra